foolish

[ foo-lish ]

adjective

1. resulting from or showing a lack of sense; ill-considered: unwise:

   a foolish action;

   a foolish speech.

   Synonyms: thoughtless, imprudent, preposterous, nonsensical, absurd, ridiculous, unintelligent, senseless, brainless, witless, stupid

2. lacking forethought or caution.

   Synonyms: thoughtless, imprudent, incautious, heedless, half-baked, foolhardy, reckless, rash, impetuous

3. trifling, insignificant, or paltry.

   Synonyms: picayune, trivial

foolish

/ ˈfuːlɪʃ /

adjective

1. unwise; silly
2. resulting from folly or stupidity
3. ridiculous or absurd; not worthy of consideration
4. weak-minded; simple
5. an archaic word for insignificant

Derived Forms

• ˈfoolishly, adverb
• ˈfoolishness, noun

Other Word Forms

• fool·ish·ly adverb
• fool·ish·ness noun
• o·ver·fool·ish adjective
• o·ver·fool·ish·ly adverb
• qua·si-fool·ish adjective
• qua·si-fool·ish·ly adverb
• un·fool·ish adjective
• un·fool·ish·ly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of foolish¹

First recorded in 1250–1300; from Middle English folish, foolish; fool ¹, -ish ¹

Idioms and Phrases

see penny wise and pound foolish .

Example Sentences

Between this show and “The Mandalorian,” Pascal weathered a season of queasy daddy fantasizing in the pop culture discourse, and it would be foolish to bet against that nonsense's resurgence.

From Salon

Republicans would be foolish to treat this 90-day pause as a victory big enough to justify scurrying back to their holes, to hide from the wrath of Dear Leader.

From Salon

These are not people who got rich by being foolish with their funding.

From Los Angeles Times

“And by the way, yes, he comes to me in my dreams, and he always does something silly and foolish and makes me laugh. He would have called me every day.”

From Los Angeles Times

While the campaign will focus on problems close to home, the candidates would be foolish to ignore the global political headwinds.

From BBC

Related Words

• absurd
• crazy
• fantastic
• ill-advised
• insane
• irrational
• ludicrous
• preposterous
• ridiculous
• silly
• stupid
• unreasonable
• unwise

When To Use

What are other ways to say foolish?

A foolish action is one that shows a lack of sense or is ill-considered. How is foolish different from fatuous, silly, inane, stupid, and asinine? Find out on Thesaurus.com.